Under The Stars
by Yuna Leonhart
Summary: Not much, just a little in-between scene set at the end of the movie. It's mostly about Tiana and Naveen but also about Ray. Just read and find out.


This is my first TPATF fanfic which I've been writing since the first time I watched the movie (and I watched it in December). But I'm still not sure if I stayed true to characters and that no one is too out of character. If so, I'd be grateful if someone could correct me.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Princess And The Frog. But I own the soundtrack, the Art of... book, the Cooking With Tiana book, the essential guide, the How to draw book and Tiana and Naveen as plushies

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Under The Stars

There he was, Ray lying on the red feather. The firefly breathed heavily and the light of his butt was very weak. Gently, he patted Louis' finger, smiling sadly at him. Tiana stroked his head, prompting Ray to look at her and Naveen:

"Hey, chere, how come y'all still-?"

"We're staying frogs, Ray", Tiana softly interrupted him.

"And we're staying together", Naveen added, taking her hand and smiling sadly at Ray.

"Oh, I like that very much. Evangeline like that, too."

Then, the firefly closed his eyes. Louis and Tiana sobbed, while Naveen closed his eyes in sadness. Ray's light got dimmer and dimmer and then the light faded. It started to rain as if the heaven was crying. No one said a word while they were trying to let the fact that their friend was dead sink in. Ray was only trying to help them and it cost his life. If there was one creature who did not deserve to die, it was Ray, the little firefly with a heart the size of the LaBouff mansion. Tiana did not know how much time has passed, all she knew was that Naveen started to speak:

"We should bring him back to the bayou, his friends and family need to know what happened to Ray."

Tiana and Louis looked at him before giving a silent nod in agreement.

"But how are we gonna get there?", Louis asked.

"The riverboat", Naveen replied. Tiana rolled her eyes but could not hide her smile. He was so naïve but nevertheless she loved him.

"And how are we gonna use the riverboat? I doubt they'd ferry two frogs, a dead firefly and an alligator to the bayou", Tiana retorted. But then she got an idea, she signaled the other two to wait and hopped to Charlotte. She told the blond about Ray, how he lost his life and that they wanted to bring him back to the bayou.

"Of course I'll help ya", Charlotte said immediately after Tiana asked her for help.

"Would you do that for us? Even though you don't know Ray?"

"Of course I would, you're my best friend and it's the least I could do after I couldn't help ya turning back into humans."

The frog smiled at her friend, at this moment she was so glad to have a friend like Charlotte and she was glad that she could still talk like a human. Otherwise the blond rich girl would not know what they were talking about.

Later they were all on the same riverboat on that they arrived to New Orleans. Charlotte had offered the captain of this boat loads of money for taking Louis – who quickly picked up his trumpet from there he left it –, Naveen, Tiana and Ray to the bayou. After that, one of her servants arrived, telling her that her father insists to she gets home. Louis held Ray in his hands while sitting on the deck, crying over him. Tiana in the meantime sat with Naveen on the same spot they sat when they were going to have their dinner. She silently looked at the evening star, Evangeline. After a moment, she sighed sadly, looking miserably at her feet. Naveen comforted her by embracing her. It was so good to have someone at ones side at a times like this, to have someone to share the pain and grieve.

Later, Tiana, Naveen and Louis still carrying the dead Ray met up with the other fireflies. Naveen, for some reason, had a nutshell in his hands.

"What happened!?", one of them cries in shock.

"I-I-I-I don't re-really kn-know", the alligator replied, nearly bursting in tears. "He f-f-f-flew awa-away from the...the Sh-sh-shadow Man and... and when I found him, he was... he was l-l-like this!"

Then he bursted in tears. A few fireflies patted him on the shoulder and arm.

"R-Ray gave me a talisman the Shadow Man had, t-t-telling m-m-me that when I saw Na-Naveen and my f-friend Charlotte getting m-married didn't really happen and... and that it sh-shouldn't fall in the hands of... of the.. the Sh-Shadow Man", Tiana choked out, holding back her tears. Naveen put the nutshell down before he put his hands on her shoulders, comforting her. "A-After that he... he urged me to run away and I di-did. I... I don't know w-what happened af-afterwards."

Crying silently, she looked at her feet. It was so unfair that the innocents had to die! Three fireflies arrived, carrying a leaf. They instructed Louis to lay Ray on the plant. He did so and the fireflies slowly flew off with the leaf. It gently glided on the water. All of the fireflies, Louis, Tiana and Naveen slowly followed the leaf, the insects giving a dim light from their butts. Along the way, the two frogs picked up two white flowers before they sat down on Louis' snout. No one knew how long they flew or, Louis' case, with the two frogs sitting on his snout, swam through the mist when they finally stopped. The three fireflies gently laid the leaf on the water. Tiana and Naveen laid the flowers next to Ray while Louis played a sad tune on his trumpet. Both looked sadly at each other before watching one firefly pushing the leaf, letting it glide over the water to the mist. Soon, they were unable to see the leaf anymore. In grieve, they closed their eyes, crying over the death of their friend. Then suddenly a silver light got through Tiana's eyes. She opened them and gasped, prompting the others to open their eyes, too. Clouds parted when they looked to the sky and there, right next to the evening star was another star. Ray shone right next to his Evangeline. Naveen, Louis and all the fireflies smiled for Ray who could be with the one he loved. The fireflies cheered while Naveen and Tiana hugged.

Later the fireflies flew home, one by one. There was no cheerful chatter and there were no bright lights, only silence accompanied by dim lights. Still, the mood was not as depressing as before, it was a little bit happier. Soon enough, only Tiana, Naveen and Louis were the only ones left. They still looked at the two brightest star. No words were spoken and no sound was made... except the occasional sob from Louis. Tiana already knew how it feels like to lose a loved one, after all she lost her father a few years ago. Still, she wished she would never loose someone again, even though it was impossible but she knew that Ray was in a better place now. She knew, she will miss him but she also knew he will always be there.

Tiana had no clue how much time has passed, all she knew was that she was suddenly tired. She could not stifle a yawn and now that she thought about it, so much has happened in such a short amount of time that it was no wonder she felt so tired.

"Tired?", Naveen asked to which Tiana nodded. The prince took her hand and let her to a tree. There he motioned her to sit down before he hopped on a branch and took a big leaf. He hopped down and sat down next to Tiana, blanketing them both with the leaf. She smiles gratefully at him before snuggling up against him. He put his arm around her and so both fell asleep.

Morning came and Tiana was the first to wake up which was no surprise, considering how she used to spend her life prior being turned into a frog. Normally she would get washed, get dressed and eat breakfast before going to work but now she could not do it. So she just remained laying next to Naveen who was still fast asleep. He still had his arm around her and his head leaned against hers. She watched him sleep, thinking about everything that had happened recently, about being turned into a frog, making friends with an alligator and a firefly, about the death of Doctor Facilier and, most importantly, falling in love with the one who turned her into a frog, Naveen. At first she did not like him, for being so irresponsible, lazy and being a womanizer but then he showed his other side which made her fall for him. She was pulled out of her thoughts when someone spoke:

"Am I that good looking that you keep staring at me?"

It was Naveen who looked curiously at Tiana. When did he wake up? Was she lost in thought so much that she did not notice him waking up?

"No, just thinking", she replied. Naveen looked a little disappointed but he pulled her closer to him.

"So, I am not good looking, no?"

Tiana chuckled a little.

"Of course you are good looking, I was only lost in thought."

"About what?", Naveen asked curiously.

"About everythin' that happened the last few days, being turned into a frog, meeting Louis and Ray, Doctor Facilier dying... falling for you."

"Wow."

"Wow what?"

"You made it sound like nothing much happened when it was actually so much. But-", he paused, pulling her even closer to him so that she nearly sat on his lap. "- which part did you like the most?"

"Hm", Tiana hummed, pretending to think. The question was easily answered and she knew what Naveen expected.

"I would say it was befriending Louis and Ray", she finally answered, knowing that he expected her to say the part with falling for him. In response Naveen looked surprised but not disappointed or displeased. Tiana smiled, drawing Naveen's face closer.

"I'm just kiddin', my fav'rite part was falling in love with you", she whispered to where his ear would have been. "But befriending Louis and Ray is a close second."

Then she leaned back to see him smiling at her.

"And now you're gonna tell me which you liked the best."

Naveen smiled lovingly at her, embracing her.

"That is simple, it is the part where I realized that I am in love with you."

Once again, Tiana leaned back to see his face before closing her eyes and drawing nearer to his face. When their lips where only an inch apart, a voice spoke up:

"My favorite part was meeting you two and Ray."

The frogs jumped apart a little, looking at Louis who laid on his stomach, hands supporting his head and grinning widely Tiana and Naveen looked at each other since they thought Louis was still asleep.

"Since when were you awake?", Tiana asked.

"Since you told Naveen what you were thinking about", Louis replied. "You two looked kinda cute and I didn't want to interrupt."

Tiana and Naveen looked at each other, unsure of what to say. The alligator was a great friend, but right now they wished that he was still asleep or somewhere else. Still, the two frogs smiled at Louis and continued with their conversation about the recent events, laughing and crying about some particular things, like the one with the frog hunters or the one where Tiana thought she saw Naveen marrying Charlotte.

Later that day, Naveen and Louis swam through the bayou. Well, Louis swam, while Naveen laid on his back with his eyes closed. The former prince used a twig as an ukulele to make some music to which the alligator hummed. Music was the only sound that accompanied them, although Naveen was muttering something under his breath.

"Hey, Naveen, do you remember that dead tree over there? I can't remember seeing it when the fireflies helped us to get to Mama Odie", Louis suddenly said. Naveen opened his eyes, stopped playing and looked to the tree trunk Louis looked at. It was very big and quite large. He, too, could not remember it being there.

"Your head was in a tree trunk for a few moments, maybe you just missed it out", he said.

"If you say so", the alligator replied, sounding unconvinced, which did not escape Naveen.

"Trust me, my scaly friend, I know where we are going", he said before he continued to play his twig-ukulele. He heard Louis mumble something unintelligible but dismissed it. They continued their way just like they did before Louis asked about the dead tree.

"Hey, where y'all goin'?", somebody asked. It was one of Ray's cousin. Naveen stopped playing and looked at him

"We are on our way to Mama Odie", the frog said, pointing to the direction they were going. The firefly, who introduced himself as Joe, raised his eyebrows, looking quizzically at them.

"We... are going the wrong way, no?", Naveen asked weakly to which Joe nodded.

"Great, Louis! Are you ever going the right direction?", Naveen asked displeased.

"B-but I got a bad sense of directions!", the alligator exclaimed, looking apologetic. Naveen just sighed and shook his head.

"Follow me", Joe simply said and led them to Mama Odie, without any obstacles.

So, Naveen entered the boat in the tree in the bayou where the blind voodoo lady lived, while Joe and Louis waited for him in the outside. It looked just like the first time they were there, with eyes in a jar on the top of the teeth in the jar and the gumbo in a bath tub. Mama Odie sat in her chair, snoring in her sleep. Her pet snake Juju was curled up on her stomach, also sleeping. Naveen hopped on the arm rest.

"Eh, Mama Odie?", he said, poking her arm. This caused the older woman to abruptly stand up and this in turn caused Juju to fall from her stomach and Naveen from the arm rest.

"Juju! Why didn't ya tell me we have a guest!?", she exclaimed while the two animals recovered from their respective falls. Naveen groaned a little, while Mama Odie used Juju as cane. She stooped down and picked up the frog.

"So, the prince is still a froggy", she said while placing him in the arm rest. Naveen had no idea how to reply. Her tone did not suggest she was disappointed or pleased with it. So, he just nodded.

"Well, can't help ya", the voodoo lady said. "Ya need a princess to kiss ya and to turn ya two back. But I'll be glad to help ya with the other matter, Prince Froggy."

"Achidanza! How did you know? I did not even ask yet", Naveen replied astonished. The answer for his question was Mama Odie pointing at her gumbo filled bath tub.

"Did you find out that we wanted to be human through the gumbo, too?", he asked to which Mama Odie nodded.

"So, Prince Froggy", she began. "Did ya find out what ya need?"

"Yes, now I know that I need no money, I need Tiana", Naveen spoke those words in a confident voice, then he sighed happily and spoke in a quieter voice:

"She makes me feel the way I never felt before, she is the only one I ever truly lov-"

"Don't tell me that, tell her", Mama Odie told him in a dismissive voice. Naveen stopped speaking and hopped off of the arm rest.

"I let you know when the wedding will be. Abinaza", Naveen said and hopped away. Shortly before he left the boat, he heard Mama Odie calling after him:

"Oh, and tell Louis that I ain't gonna turn him into a human."

On their way back, Naveen told them that Mama Odie agreed to wed him and Tiana, that is after he proposed. Afterwards nobody said anything while Joe led them to the place they stayed at. Naveen played his ukulele once again, with Louis and Joe humming along. In tranquility they went down the bayou. The frog's eyes were closed and a big grin was on his face. He was happy, despite being a frog. In fact, he was happier now that he had Tiana, his love, and Louis, their friend. They filled the hole he felt inside of himself for as long as he could remember. Wooing women and partying every night were fun but he never felt like he does now. Naveen let his thoughts wander to Tiana, how he met and mistook her for a princess, convincing her to kiss him to break the spell. He thought about everything that happened afterwards and realized that this was the best thing that happened in his life.

"Hey, Naveen, did ya ask Mama Odie if she could turn me into a human?", Louis asked, bringing Naveen out of his reverie.

"She said, she will not do it", Naveen replied, deciding not to mention that he forgot to ask. The alligator let out a disappointed sigh but did not show his disappointment in any other way. Afterwards, the only sound accompanying them was the music again – and Naveen's mutterings.

Meanwhile, Tiana laid on the grass, watching the clouds. She had no idea what to do now since she was always busy with work and hardly did anything else. Naveen was right when he said she had no idea how to have fun. After all, she was too busy earning money for the sugar mill to improve her cooking skills and catching a few seconds of sleep. Now she realized that she never enjoyed life since childhood, ever since her father died. Tiana wondered if he would love her, despite her being frog. Probably, since she was still herself on the inside, only different on the outside. She slowly closed her eyes, listening to the buzzing of the fireflies and flies and to all the other sounds the animals of the bayou were making. The sounds became quieter by the minute until she could not hear or see anything since she was now in the lands of dreams.

She wore a white gown with golden straps and white high heels. Her hair was shorter, decorated by a white feather. Around her were so many people, including Charlotte, Big Daddy, her friends who invited her to go out dancing, her mother and even her father. Some sat at the tables, eating and chatting. There were also some people dancing to the music, provided by the piano, the ukulele and the trumpet. The piano was played by a black man whose face she could not see, while the trumpet was played by Louis and the ukulele was played by a black haired man in a white jacket with black pants and shoes.

"Naveen?", Tiana hopefully asked. He turned around, still playing his instrument, but suddenly everything got blurry. The man, the people, the place, everything became indistinct and then everything disappeared. She suddenly heard a voice with an accent, which was very comfort – sounding to her. Then she opened her eyes, spotting two caramel colored orbs, surrounded by lots of green.

"Wake up, sleeping beauty", Naveen said, a chuckle escaping from his throat.

"What's so funny?", Tiana asked, a little sleepily, sitting up. She must have taken quite a long nap since the sun is setting and when she fell asleep it was mid-afternoon.

"I just thought I would never see the day you take a nap."

Naveen chuckled again and Tiana playfully slapped him on his shoulder.

"Hey, I was bored!"

"Is it that boring without your handsome and charming prince?", Naveen asked, putting an arm around her.

"That and I had no idea what to do now since I can't work like I did before. By the way", she looked at him with a curious expression, "where were you and Louis?"

"That, my waitress", Naveen replied, "is a secret."

If Tiana still had her eyebrows, she would raise them but she had none, so she just answered with a quizzical face to which Naveen in turn answered with a grin. Then she looked up to the sky and a thought occurred her: what about her mother? How would she react if she knew her only daughter was a frog?

"What is wrong?", Naveen asked, having noticed her face. "You are not sad that you sacrificed your dream, no?"

Tiana smiled tenderly at him.

"When you find something that you love, it's not a sacrifice at all", she said softly before sighing sadly. "I'm worried about my mama. I was her only living relative."

"And?", Naveen beset.

"And now I'm a frog and frogs have shorter life spans, don't they?", the female frog exclaimed, a hint of sadness in her voice. "She'll be all alone way too soon. She'd have no one, not me, no grandchildren to keep her company..."

"Ah, not that soon", Naveen replied. "I asked one of Ray's relatives and he told me that frogs live for more than ten years, so she would not be alone that soon."

Tiana considered for a moment, looking to the trees with a distant expression. It was true, ten years were quite a long time. Still, it seemed too short next to the life span of a human being. It lifted her mood only slightly, the fact that she had to leave her mother alone still weighted on her like a sixteen ton anvil. She felt Naveen squeezing her a little and looked at him. He smiled comfortably at her.

"If it makes you happy, we could try visit her", he suggested. "But... would she mind if her grandkids are tadpoles?"

Tiana blushed after hearing the word "tadpole" but acted like it was nothing. She just shrugged unsuspectingly since she had no idea if her mother would mind or not.

"Well, we will see", Naveen said. "But-" He looked at her questionably. "do you have books at your place?"

Tiana was a little surprised by the question that she needed a few seconds to register the words. Then, slowly, she nodded with a bewildered expression.

"Okay, then we will have to make sure that no book is nearby. I do not want to get hit by a book for the third time. Miss LaBouff hit me with one before I told her what happened", he answered Tiana's unspoken question.

"Don't worry, mama is not someone who hits random frogs with a book", she said. "Although I'm not sure how she would react to talkin' frogs."

"Looks like I am never safe from books", Naveen muttered to which Tiana chuckled. He stared at her, muttering "At least someone has a little laugh."

In response, Tiana hugged him, burying her face into his chest. Naveen circled his arms around her, stroking her back. He let one hand go off he back and examined the mucus that stuck on his hand. Both had to get used to this but now it was like they were covered with mucus all their lives. Maybe lives as frogs would not be so bad. But both were fine as long as they have each other.

"Thank you", Tiana said, withdrawing and looking at him in the eyes. "For making the suggestion to visit my mother", she replied to the question written on his face. Naveen gave a sweet smile, a smile unlike the one he used to charm many women, including her, although he did not know at the time.

The sun was now set and the bayou was engulfed in a sort of creepy darkness. Through the trees they could see Ray and Evangeline shining brightly with a silver glow. But the darkness of the bayou pressed on them so that they were unable to see anything. Tiana looked up to the two stars, smiling at them. She heard Naveen standing up and looked at him.

"I will be right back", he said, touching her shoulder. She nodded and Naveen left. But she only had to wait for five minutes when Naveen returned with a nutshell. Tiana studied the object he carried in question.

"What's that for?", she voiced her thoughts but Naveen just smirked at her. Just then she heard a slow, romantic tune coming from the trees. It was the same tune as Ray's song about his love. She looked at the trees, trying to find the, likely gatory source and she thought she saw something moving but before she could investigate to confirm her suspicion, Naveen took her hand, nutshell now laying in the grass. He hopped with her on the lily pad that floated on the water and pulled her close.

"If I can mince, you can dance", he simply said, which made Tiana smile lovingly at him. Then they both dance to the tune just like they did the last time, only without Tiana tripping over her feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the water lilies surrounding the pads lighting up, emitting a magical glow. Naveen let her twirl and she thought she saw some shining little lights in the air. Then he pulled her close, gazing lovingly into her eyes. Slowly, their faces drew nearer and, unlike the last time, their lips met. Tiana had no idea whether a minute or a hundred minutes passed when they pulled apart. She noticed that the music stopped but the lights were still there. Two fireflies, carrying the nutshell, flew to them and handed it to Naveen. He thanked them and turned to Tiana but she followed the fireflies with her eyes and noticed Louis standing there where they both sat previously, with his trumpet in his hands. The alligator brought his instrument to his snout and started playing the same tune anew.

"Tiana", Naveen said, bringing her attention back to him. He held her hand. "Y-you could not be more different than all the other girls I ever dated... i-in a good way,", he added upon seeing her displeased face. She gave him a little smile, encouraging him to continue. Her heart beat faster than usual and she felt a little excited. He looked surer than before and continued with more confidence:

"You changed me for the better and you make me feel like I never felt before and I know I need you. Tiana", he paused, kneeling down on one knee, "you are my Evangeline and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Naveen opened the nutshell, revealing a white pearl, wrapped in a wire. The wire itself was shaped like a circle, making it a ring.

"Would you do me the honor of becoming my bride?"

He looked at anxiously, biting his lower lip and frowning a little. Tiana just smiled lovingly at him and said two little words:

"I will."

The fireflies cheered happily, with Louis crying a joyful "Hallelujah!", while Naveen just smiled. He put the ring on her finger and picked her up, twirling her around, both laughing happily.

"Is this why you went to Mama Odie? For the ring?", Tiana asked.

"Ah, no", Naveen negated, putting her down. "I already made the ring on the riverboat when we returned to New Orleans. I just picked it up before we went back to the bayou, remember?"

Tiana thought for a moment, remembering that he hopped to one of the riverboats the night before and returned some time later with the shell. She nodded to answer answer his question.

"I went to Mama Odie to ask her if she could wed us", he said. Tiana formed an 'o' with her lips.

"And she agreed to", Naveen added joyfully.

"That's swell but", Tiana paused a little, looking curiously at him, "how long did you practice this proposal? It went better than your last attempt."

"Ah well, I practiced on my way to Mama Odie and the way b-", Naveen paused, looking perplexed. "How did you know I was going to propose?"

"Ray told me", Tiana said. "But I thought I told you this morning about that."

"Ah no, you just told me how heartbroken you was when you thought you saw me marrying Miss LaBouff", Naveen corrected her. Then he muttered:

"Seems like he could not keep this a secret."

That made Tiana giggle a little and then she threw her arms around him and he placed his hands on her hips, twirling her for the third time that night. He placed a hand on her cheek, smiling tenderly at her and he started singing to the tune Louis was still playing:

**Look how she lights up my life**

**I love you, Tiana**

Then Tiana sang in response:

_Look how he lights up my life_

_I love you, Naveen_

The End


End file.
